A study published on July 15 in BMJ Mental Health found that having higher ADHD traits was associated with a lower quality of life and that insomnia could be part of the reason why.

At least one in four people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) report having a sleep disorder, with insomnia being the most common of these.

"Our findings show a link between ADHD traits, insomnia severity, and reduced life satisfaction," says Dr Sarah L. Chellappa, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Southampton and senior author on the research paper.

"We know that sleep disruption can impact neurobehavioral and cognitive systems, including attention and emotional regulation. At the same time, sleep disruption may arise from ADHD-related impulsivity and hyperactivity, suggesting a reinforcing cycle between sleep disorders and ADHD."

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (Prof Eus Van Someren) examined data from the Netherlands Sleep Registry, an online survey with more than ten thousand adult participants.

The team analysed responses from 1,364 participants who had answered questions about ADHD traits, sleep disturbances, circadian factors, depression, and quality of life.

They found ADHD traits were associated with worse depression, more severe insomnia, lower sleep quality, and a preference for going to bed and waking up later.

ADHD and insomnia severity both predicted a lower quality of life, with analysis suggesting insomnia was the potential link in this association.

"Adults with ADHD traits may be more likely to have low sleep quality, insomnia complaints, and low mood levels, all of which lead to reduced life satisfaction," says Professor Samuele Cortese, a co-author on the paper, also from the University of Southampton.

"There needs to be more research to understand this complex interplay. By improving our understanding, we could uncover treatment options that improve the quality of life of people with ADHD. For instance, targeting insomnia complaints in individuals with higher ADHD traits, with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia or Sleep Restriction therapy may help improve their quality of life."

The paper Associations of ADHD symptom severity, sleep/circadian factors, depression, and quality of life is published in BMJ Mental Health and is available online.

The research was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the European Research Council.

A new international research project featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals that people in the Middle Ages weren't cooped up in castles, wallowing in superstition. They were developing health practices based on the best knowledge they had at the time - some of which mirror modern wellness trends.

"People were engaging with medicine on a much broader scale than had previously been thought," said Meg Leja, an associate professor of history at Binghamton University who specializes in the political and cultural history of late antique and medieval Europe. "They were concerned about cures, they wanted to observe the natural world and jot down bits of information wherever they could in this period known as the 'Dark Ages.'"

The Corpus of Early Medieval Latin Medicine (CEMLM), funded by the British Academy, has collected hundreds of medieval manuscripts containing medical material predating the 11th century. Countless manuscripts that have been left out of previous catalogs were included, nearly doubling the number of known medical manuscripts from the Dark Ages.

Some of the recipes resemble health hacks promoted by modern-day influencers, from topical ointments to detox cleanses. Have a headache? Crush the stone of a peach, mix it with rose oil and smear it on your forehead. It might sound odd, but one study published in 2017 showed that rose oil may actually help alleviate migraine pain.

Then there's lizard shampoo, where you take pieces of lizard to help your hair become more luscious and flowing - or even to remove it, a modern-day parallel to waxing.

"A lot of things that you see in these manuscripts are actually being promoted online currently as alternative medicine, but they have been around for thousands of years," said Leja.

Leja spent the last two years with the rest of the team preparing the new catalogue (which was just released online), reviewing manuscripts from throughout Europe, and editing and formatting the catalog. She had previously written about medieval medicine in her first book, Embodying the Soul: Medicine and Religion in Carolingian Europe.

Many of the writings were found within the margins of books totally unrelated to medicine -- manuscripts on grammar, theology, poetry , etc. Leja said that this speaks to a preoccupation with the body's health and figuring out ways to control it.

"It's true that we do lack a lot of sources for the period. In that sense, it is 'dark.' But not in terms of any kind of 'anti-science' attitudes -- people in the early Middle Ages were quite into science, into observation, into figuring out the utility of different natural substances, and trying to identify patterns and make predictions" said Leja.

The research team will continue to update the catalog with new manuscripts and are working on new editions and translations of medical texts that could be used in teaching. Leja noted that while previously catalogs focused on texts from well-known authorities like Hippocrates, this isn't necessarily material that people in the Dark Ages would have prioritized, and a more comprehensive catalog will allow historians to show medicine in its fullness.

The Corpus of Early Medieval Latin Medicine (CEMLM) is available online, produced by team members from Binghamton, Fordham, St. Andrews, Utrecht, and Oslo.